My Fab New WARM Winter Parka Jacket - by Uni Qlo

Yesterday Last night I went to a fab Mexican Masterclass, (the link just given is when another blogger reviewed it; I haven't yet as I want to spend quite some time on it, and that won't be today) at Benito's Hat and I got there too early, so decided to have a bit of a meander round some of the shops near Oxford Circus.

I ended up in Uni Qlo and the story of how I bought the below jacket is hilarious. Well, not funny, as such, but certainly ironic!

I was captivated looking at their Orla Kiely range, but couldn't find anything for me, as being a size 16-18 (currently) patterns tend to make me look bigger...

As I walked out, (not one to keep an opinion to myself) I said to the Sales Assistant: "Why are you charging £49 for those jackets when they are so flimsy; they feel like tissue paper!"

She explained the whole concept to me. How they are 90% DOWN feathers, and are incredibly lightweight, yet incredibly WARM! It is a concept known to skiiers but then I have never been skiing - I know, poor me!

Anyway, being so open to the power of suggestion, and having a little time to kill, I went straight over and tried one on. The colour below is the one that grabbed me. Don't be fooled by the website which says it is "red" - it is more of a raspberry colour! Gorgeous but not for anyone who normally does Winter in black or grey!

I chose the PARKA, but as you can see they do a few types. I really regretted yesterday only buying one, instore, so today have ordered (online) another one for my Mum (means I paid postage costs - really wish I got her one yesterday). I'll then have the hassle of posting it to Ireland, (more postage costs) but what the hell, she will absolutely love it! They are currently £49.90, and apparently that is a limited offer; I don't know how long for. I just described it to her over the phone. She wanted the shorter one as she does not like hoods, but I insisted on this one as I said it is important to keep your kidneys warm which she found absolutely hilarious!

Anyway, I wore the above (in size XL which is figure hugging for me) to drop Aaron at nursery this morning and all the staff were raving about it. They all said that they want one. One said it would be perfect for Thorpe Park, and the other, for festivals!

The real amazing thing is it comes with a drawstring bag which means you can easily carry it to the office if you know it will be cold on the way home in the evening. It won't weigh you down as it is only 206g. I know I sound like a walking talking advert but I always get a bit evangelical when I love a product.

Let me know what you think.... in the comments please.

Oh and what I didn't say, was after that conversation with the Sales Assistant, when I went back to try one on, there were ladies clamouring to try them on and buy them. I was intrigued and not being shy I asked them why. They were in there due to a full page ad in Shortlist magazine. Not having worked on Oxford Street since 2002, I did not know what that was, but I picked one up and it is quite an interesting read considering it's free - well impressed. Provided me some great & funny reading material when I got to Benito's Hat STILL too early (more on that when I write about the Masterclass)!

This is the full page ad that is in Shortlist - no wonder it was making people buy: